.jpg?width=2048)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Maharashtra
Photos
.jpg?width=900)
_777.jpg?width=900)
.JPG?width=900)
-113663.jpg?width=900)
-113665.jpg?width=900)
-113673.jpg?width=900)
Three million people pass through here every day. It is a working commuter station that happens to be a World Heritage Site.
What you're looking at
The headquarters and terminus of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, designed by Frederick William Stevens and completed in 1888 after ten years' work. Victorian Gothic Revival in form, but executed by Bombay School of Art craftsmen who filled it with Indian detail. Renamed for Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1996.
Why it matters
It is the finest surviving Victorian Gothic building in Asia and the clearest statement of what British India's architecture became when local craftsmen got hold of it: a European cathedral form covered in Indian animals, plants and faces. It is also still doing the job it was built for, which almost no monument of its age anywhere can claim.
Look for these
01
The gargoyles are Indian animals
Monkeys, peacocks, elephants and cobras instead of European grotesques. Look along the roofline and around the windows.
02
Progress on the dome
The central dome is crowned by a female figure holding a torch and a spoked wheel, representing Progress. It was one of the earliest large ribbed domes on a Gothic building.
03
A lion and a tiger at the gate
Flanking the main entrance — Britain and India respectively. The symbolism was not subtle.
04
The booking hall's stained glass
Inside the main hall, ribbed vaults and stained glass with locomotives and the GIP Railway crest. Most commuters run straight past it.
05
The staircase
A wrought-iron and stone spiral in the administrative wing, one of the most photographed interiors in Mumbai — access is limited, so look for the heritage tour.
Before you go
- It is a live station: keep to the concourse and out of the way of people with trains to catch.
- The heritage building is the administrative block; guided tours run on some days and are the only way into the upper floors.
- Best light on the facade is late afternoon; the building is floodlit after dark.
- It was one of the sites attacked in November 2008, and there is a memorial on the concourse.
- The Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai — a separate World Heritage listing — are a short walk away.
Visitor guide to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
Visiting
Entry fee and daily timings weren't available from an official source — please confirm on site.
More ancient wonders
Agra, Uttar Pradesh
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white-marble mausoleum on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in Agra. Commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 to house th…
Khadir Bet (Kutch), Gujarat
Dholavira
On Khadir Bet island amid the Great Rann of Kutch, Dholavira is one of the five largest cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Discovered in 1967–68 and sy…
Saragwala (near Ahmedabad), Gujarat
Lothal
Lothal is one of the world's earliest known dockyards and a major trading outpost of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Established around 2400 BCE near the head…
Rakhigarhi (Hisar), Haryana
Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi is the largest Indus Valley Civilisation site found in India. Spread across roughly 224 hectares on the bed of the vanished Saraswati (Ghaggar) ri…
Kalibangan (Hanumangarh), Rajasthan
Kalibangan
Kalibangan, in north-west Rajasthan, is an Indus-era site of two adjacent mounds separated by a dried river channel. Excavations in the 1960s revealed a fort…
Gharapuri (Elephanta Island), Maharashtra
Elephanta Caves
The Elephanta Caves are a group of rock-cut temples carved into the basalt cliffs of Elephanta Island (Gharapuri), a short ferry ride across Mumbai harbour.…